Red Star is happy to report that our single cat from the Memphis emergency shelter, nicknamed Token, was cleared by the Vet yesterday and left for her new forever home!

A great day for 33 of the Memphis UHaul dogs yesterday as they left the emergency shelter headed for shelters that will find them new homes — with 23 headed to Knoxville's Young-Williams Animal Center who will work with local rescues to find them all loving homes.

Later today 40 of our Memphis pups will board a FedEx special delivery flight that will fly them to Tri-County Humane in Boca Raton, FL where they will find foster and forever homes.

Jan 25, 2012 Update:

Baths for the dogs are on the agenda today and local groomers have volunteered to come in to groom and make the dogs more comfortable. Wagging tails tell us how appreciative the dogs for shampoos and haircuts!

The first week of Red Star Volunteers have been working 10 and 12 hour days at the emergency shelter — they are tired but very happy to see the positive change in the dogs. The week #2 Red Star Team arrives tonight and will have a transitional day with the week #1 Team tomorrow and will then take over the sheltering on Friday. A big thanks to our week #1 volunteers, both Red Star and from the local community, who have worked so hard with the dogs during this critical first week.

"Token" the cat has already found a home! She will be spayed in the next few days and once she has been cleared by the veterinarian she will go to a loving local home that is eagerly waiting for her arrival!

Today, planning began to get the 141 dogs into loving adoptive homes. The good news — we already have several local shelters as well as a major out of state shelter who have committed to finding many of the dogs good adoptive homes.

Initial Report:

Last week, 144 dogs and 1 cat were rescued on Interstate 40, after a routine traffic stop by the Tennessee Highway Patrol. The dogs, packed 4 or 5 to a crate, were living in squalor as the result of several days on the road.

Our Red Star™ Animal Emergency Services team deployed to Tennessee to assist in the rescue and care of the dogs. All of the dogs were moved to an emergency shelter where they had breakfast and were examined by a vet.

Red Star team leader reports that there has been a noticeable improvement in the dogs, and they are becoming more trustful with care.

Unfortunately, there were no papers on the dogs that were rescued, but our team is working diligently to identify dogs through microchips, if they have them. Meanwhile, our team has nicknamed the animals until they can be correctly identified. They even practiced a tornado drill over the weekend to assure shelter safety due to some expected severe weather.

But, our work is not done. Because these animals are part of a criminal case, they will be in the shelter for quite some time, until the case is concluded. We need your help to ensure that the animals receive food, water and the care and comfort that they deserve while in the shelter.

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